National Film and Television Application Short-Film

The choice of location to film our short-film application came about when I was walking down Elms Hill (The location for my AS Thriller) and I stubble upon an Victorian antique shop which sold very old items such as oil lamps and specialises in making taxidermy. The thought to set this short in the Queen Victoria's reign was first constructed before seeing the shop, the period that this will be set in will be 1896. The construction for the narrative has begun and speaking intensively with the shop owner about filming permission and the idea of the film he said he agrees with, the shop will also add to the time period along with the costume, the genre of the short will be Horror.  Me and Josh Moore both felt that by applying with something that shows of what we're initially applying for will help to show NFTS that we talented and committed in that field, even if we don't get the opportunity to go to the residential we can still use this and place it our portfolio.   

I spent an hour firstly in the shop to try and visualise what the scene would look like and tried to think where I would position the camera if we were allowed to film there. I then asked the owner of the shop and talked about the age of the building, what period some of the items were and discussed about the potential idea of being allowed to use his shop, he said yes to the idea and seemed to be excited about the idea. I then spent time explaining my original idea to Josh Moore, who would be assisting me on making the Horror short-film, we then decided to travel down to Elm Hill where the shop is located, and discussed potential ideas while surrounded by the atmosphere of the shop, this added the possibility to visualise where the characters would be positioned and what props from around the shop would aid in creating a horror atmosphere.

We talked with James (The Shop Owner) and asked about if there was any stories about this shop that we could take into consideration, he said that there is a book about a taxidermist who was convinced he could make dead animals live, he thought that by doing this he had a purpose in life, he then talked to each other about the potential of adapting this novel to screen. After making good progress we then walked down Elm Hill and walked around some of the other antique shops, we found that one shop was selling old Victorian penny's, so we thought that as a prop this would be convenient to have, so we purchased 16 to be placed into a velvet coin satchel, this would link into the first suspense for the audience.

Synopsis:

 John cheats on his wife (Elizabeth) with a mistress called Helen, while discovering this, Dr Neil Cream spots her and takes advantage of her mental state offering a pill that will make her beautiful. This is poison and has killed her. John grieves over the death of his wife and decides his mistress is no longer a going concern, little does her know hie wife is now watching over him from the dark... 

  

                                

Character Profile Construction

The first thing I did when I thought up the idea to shoot a horror film set in a particular period was to think about character profiles. This then enable me to think about their characters more in depth and to then create their personal identity, this would then enable me to have an exact lifestyle and make them a real character so that they seem believable. By adding their wealth, Traits and backstory it allows the creation of a character that seems more real, the audience would then submerse themselves into the characters life story. As I didn't use the whole of the character profile, it was useful to plan ahead, because then you could reference what their lives are like in the film. I learnt this technique while at the BFI Film Academy, a lady called Bell introduced the technique to me while learning about script writing and creating character profiles from random images we chose. I adapted this technique to aid me in creating the concept for this film, it was easier to create a whole life story so you can understand their actions in the film.

I've incorporated a real life serial killer into this short, his name is Doctor Neil Cream. He is also known ass the Lambeth Poisoner, he was a Scottish-Canadian serial killer, who claimed his first proven victims in the United States by killing a Women and two Children. He then proceeded to kill women in the streets of England and was offering them a pill to make them beautiful but in fact it was poison.

                                             

                                            

   Script

                                      

                              

                               

                              

                              

The Lambeth Poisoner Trailer 

BFI Film Academy

BFI Film Academy

The British Film Institution is open to young people from anywhere in the UK and from any background, the BFI Film Academy offers a real chance for talented 16-19-year-olds to be part of our future film industry. The BFI Film Academies are a national network of organisations tasked with delivering high-quality, industry-led courses, with the aim of training and inspiring the next generation of British film-makers. Each academy will take place on 7 separate full days which offer the chance to undertake a level 2 (Silver) Arts Award, take part in trips, screening events and bespoke career guidance. The courses will each culminate in a film premiere event organised by the participants. Culture works will be running 2 courses offering training for every film industry role, from writing and directing through to production, sound design, editing and camera. There will be opportunities to work with external professionals such as writers, directors, cinematographers and animators.

Participants where split into 2 groups, one was making a fiction short film and the other was making a documentary, they all had to be 5 minutes including credits and the sponsorships, the genre of the task was sci-fi and we had a challenge to produce a short film in under 5 days (Incl. Planning, Production and Post Production). I chose to join the fiction group because I felt that I'd be best suited for the task, but then again I wasn't challenging myself to choose documentary. Our tutor for the fiction group was called Guy Myhill (Director, made his first feature film called 'The Goob' this year), we sat down and discussed our strengths as young film makers and we decided to make 3 short films, 1st in which I directed/Camera Work, 2nd which I did Camera Work/Edited and the 3rd was animation which I didn't contribute to due to 2 members of the group being very skilful in that area. There were 6 of us, 3 boys and 3 girls. We had a deadline which we had to meet which was all the short films would have to be completed by Friday 5 o'clock and we had to start on Monday, we worked 10-6 every day that week to complete the productions.

The short film that I created was called 'Ebony' and was based around the idea of personifying a alien in the woods using just sound and the actor we used. The actors name was called Liam Walpole and he starred in Guys feature film so we had the option of using him which worked very well went it came to shooting on location on Tuesday due to the trust that Guy built up with Liam through the production of his film. The film that I edited and did camera work for was called 'The Revenge Cycle' it was based around how people affected by criminals can punish them how ever they want, and it involves a son deciding his dads fate in prison. At 5 o'clock on Friday we sat down and viewed what documentary was up to and everyone gave feedback, stating what they enjoyed and what they thought of the initial narrative of the storyline. On December 6th there will be a film premiere which our short films will presented to family and friends, and as a special guest Joe Wright the director of Anna Karenina, Atonement and Pride & Prejudice will be watching them and giving us feedback.   

Being unsure about whether or not to apply for the Film Academy, I can now say that it was defiantly the right decision to make due to the fact that you get to work with other aspiring young film makers, constantly surrounded by professionals and learning from them and either teaching them new things and getting hands on experience with the equipment that they provide you, whether it was cameras, editing equipment or boom mics. Every year members of previous years come back and help with the production side of the Academy and I hope that they ask me to come back so I can assist and share what things I've learnt and offer my support to them the best way I can. 

The BFI Film Academy also offers extended opportunities as you can apply to the NFTS (National Film and Television School) which allows you to have a residential 2 week course where you also create a short film along side professionals and have master classes from top industry professionals. The course is very competitive allowing 66 people from around the UK the chance to be picked, but if you go through the BFI first you have a stronger chance of being picked as they look for Academy students first rather than people who haven't gone through it.

Ebony

Joe Wrights (Director) Comments

'Ebony' is unsettling yet utterly compelling viewing. Economical in its delivery, precise in its use of location and light, and ultimately as chilling as any great ghost story'